To say the No. 5-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team was in dire need of a victory Wednesday night would’ve been an understatement.
Apart from having dropped six of its last nine matches, The Beach’s chances of hosting a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference tournament game were in jeopardy in its seemingly roller coaster-like season.
After all, only the top-4 teams in the eight-team tournament will host a first round matchup, and with the 49ers sitting on the bubble with three games to play, there was no room for error.
However, the ‘Niners couldn’t turn up the heat when they needed it the most as they watched No. 4 UC Irvine celebrate a four-set victory Wednesday on their home floor at the Walter Pyramid — 25-19, 20-25, 25-22, 27-25.
The loss marked the first time the 49ers (12-13, 10-11 MPSF) have dropped three in a row this season, while UCI (14-11, 10-8 MPSF) matched its season-high of four consecutive victories with the win.
Freshman outside hitter Taylor Crabb paced The Beach with a career-high 20 kills on a stellar .500 hitting percentage, while junior outside hitter Brad Hemmerling added 10 kills.
Despite blowing an opportunity to host a quarterfinal match in the MPSF tournament, LBSU interim head coach Andy Read expressed no concern over his team’s seeding in the postseason.
“We’ve gone on the road and we’ve played well before,” Read said. “We’ve gone up to [then-No. 2] Stanford and we beat them and went up to UCLA and almost won over there.”
After splitting the first two sets, both teams were tied at 17 before the Anteaters broke the frame open as they took five of the next seven points following an emphatic kill from UCI opposite Carson Clark.
From there, LBSU cut the deficit, 24-22, as 49ers middle blocker Antwain Aguillard delivered a kill that narrowly dropped over the net.
But it wouldn’t be enough to ignite a rally for the ‘Niners as UCI outside hitter Cory Yoder sent a kill that dropped into the back of the court to give the Anteaters a two-sets-to-one lead.
Yoder paced UCI with 17 kills on an impressive .459 hitting percentage.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the fourth frame until LBSU took a 24-22 edge following an attack error from Clark to give the 49ers two set point opportunities.
However, the Anteaters staved off both LBSU attempts to even up the frame as UCI’s Jeremy Dejno delivered an ace that caught the edge of the back court line.
Tied at 25, UCI then shut the door on The Beach’s hopes of winning with back-to-back points capped by an attack error from Hemmerling as the Anteaters sealed the match.
“We’re gonna look at one thing,” Read said. “We get one week before we play a playoff game, so that’s plenty of time to get healthy, rest up, and get better. We’ve just gotta get better at starting the match.”
The 49ers will continue MPSF action at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday against Cal State Northridge. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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